Tough Times Ahead

Andrew and Amberlynne went out last night to their Bible Studies. Darrell pleaded with them to leave The Boy (Chase) home with him, as they will soon be gone for good. I went out to my Sisterhood group. This is what I found when I came home at 10 PM:

"He didn't want to sleep in his bed," my husband explained.

"That is unusual," I replied a bit skeptically. "But better put him to bed before his parents come home and see you spoiling him."

The Man and The Boy

He was caught in the process of taking him to his bed by the untimely arrival of Mom and Dad. They both tried to take him from Darrell, but Chase clung tightly to The Man.

I think Darrell will be going through some separation pains a week from now, what do you think?

Thanksgiving is not over yet!

I wandered in to Ben Franklin on Saturday afternoon to pick up some pumpkin scented tea candles. All of their Thanksgiving decorations were 50% off ALREADY!!! They were hosting their Home for the Holidays weekend gavanza........... Christmas crafts and holiday everything..... and it was only Nov. 8! Well, so I picked up this unique pilgrim couple. I am having Thanksgiving at my house this year with extended family, so though I perhaps would update a couple of decorations (mine are all from when the kids were toddlers) since they were fairly cheap. Another 50% off would have been even better! Here is the couple:

Close-up of the bottom........ pretty cool, huh?

Random Bolivia Shots

The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live.
~ Flora Whittemore

Vote Here for the Cutest!

I harvested my pie pumpkins today... still greenish, but the weather is turning too cold to remain in the garden. Hopefully they will ripen more quickly in the warm house. Gotta make pumpkin pies in a few weeks, after all! Darrell took Chase with him to load the squashes in the wheelbarrow to haul to the house. At his suggestion, I went along for a photo opportunity. Now I cannot decide which picture is the cutest! These are my favorite shots out of the bunches I took. He is just so cute, no? Vote in the comments and let me know which is your fav shot!

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I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.
~ Henry David Thoreau

Expanding my Vocabulary

Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English -

twitterpated
Part of Speech: adj
Definition: confused by affection or infatuation
Etymology: twitter + -pated 'pertaining to the head'

I am so happy for a friend of mine who shared with me that she is in this state! Apparently this word hails from Bambi. It is a new one for me, though :-)

Santa Claus is Crawlin' Around!

Tonight I stumbled upon a miniature Santa crawlin' around my kitchen! He was too hot, and....

...his suit was two sizes too small!

But a fresh chocolate chip cookie out of the oven put a smile on his face!

His helpers had baked cookies all afternoon.....

...to take to the neighbors to say how-do-you-do?

Christmas so soon?

A cute and clever way to make an impression on the folks who will be supporting them in one way or another when they go to Indonesia next summer!

The Claussens will be leaving this area in a few short weeks, so what better way to spread a little holiday cheer while they are still here?!?!

Skies, Mountains & Home

We were up at 3:30 AM Sat. to catch the 4:00 AM Super Blue Shuttle (that didn't show up until 5:45 AM) that took us to the Kansas City Airport. We arrived with ONE minute to check in, or have to miss the 6:00 flight and wait for another later on.......... they pushed us on through, so much so that they shoved me on before I could pick up my 2 boarding passes.......... oh brother.... then when we arrived in Dallas, we had 20 minutes to get the the opposite end of the airport to catch the connecting flight. For those of you that have been through the Dallas airport, you'll appreciate the challenge of that feat. When we got to the gate everyone had been loaded and they were about to close up the door. The nice thing about travelling like that is that it makes for a MUCH shorter flying day. No waiting at any airports at all! With the 2 hour time difference, we were in Seattle by 10:00 AM! Sweet!

Here are 2 photos of the sunrise that I snapped in Dallas from inside the plane.....

On top of the cloud layer over Washington

The Cascades coming into Seattle

Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to.
~ John Ed Pearce